The DOD and/or VA make the call on operational dates and conditions that qualify for VA benefits in situations like Camp Lejeune. At this time, they believe there is limited and suggestive evidence of an association between certain diseases and the chemical compounds found at Camp Lejeune during the period of contamination. So the VA is considering disability compensation claims based on exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune on a case-by-case basis. Perhaps you can provide evidence that indicates you were required to serve on Camp Lejeune for education purposes during the period of contamination (August 1953 through December 1987). The evidence must show you have a current disease and include a medical opinion indicating the disease is a result of exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

• After Acting Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs that VA needs approximately $17.6 billion in additional funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014 through Fiscal Year 2017, Chairman Jeff Miller released the following statement:

“I am committed to giving VA the resources it needs to provide our veterans with the care and benefits they have earned. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last few months, it’s that we can’t trust VA’s numbers. That includes the $17.6 billion in additional funding Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson asked for today. Given that this figure seems to have magically fallen out of the sky today — after years of assertions from VA leaders at all levels that they had nearly every dollar and every person necessary to accomplish VA’s mission — it would be an act of budgetary malpractice to blindly sign off on this request. VA has had hundreds of millions more in medical care funding than it could spend every fiscal year since 2010. So if VA truly needs this additional $17.6 billion, that would mean the VA administrators involved in past department resource allocation decisions are either incompetent, disingenuous or both.”

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee stated her view in a similar statement. Murray where continued her call to address the systemic problems at the VA in order to ensure veterans are getting the care and support they deserve:

“VA is still struggling with major systemic problems, there are many vacancies in key leadership positions, and most importantly, veterans are still waiting too long for care.

“Secretary Gibson, as we discussed yesterday, I appreciate you stepping up during this crisis.